Reconciling INT and Start Languages

[tmjva]

1st Ed AD&D or HackMaster v4.0

I never reconciled the rule the limits your languages based on Intelligence and additional racial languages known at start.

So a HackMaster Drow at start is supposed to know Common, Drow, Elf, Undercommon-Trade, Kuo-Toa, Orcish, Bugbear, Dwarf, Gnome, and Drow Sign language.

But you need an Intelligence of 21 to know ten languages!

So do I therefore cut the number of languages down to INT level and let the Player chose which ones?

Or do I aggregate the racial benefit (above of ten) and treat as one the Common language any character knows at start?

If there is a caveat on this I missed it.

[RobJN]

The "Max # of languages known" listing in the Intelligence table applies to humans, as each of the demi-human races' descriptions list languages known and intelligence limits to learning additional languages. (1e PHB, pp 15-17)

You have to remember, "adventuring age" dwarves and elves "just starting out" would have had plenty of time to learn additional languages, since their starting ages put them at the end of a typical human's lifespan.

If it bothers you that much, maybe call for an Intelligence check to simulate "recall" of a given language, particularly if the PC(s) in question have been away from the given race/dialect/species for some time. ("If you don't use it, you lose it")

[finarvyn]

I always thought that it was stupid and inefficent that each race had its own language, anyway. Of course there needs to be a human common tongue or maybe a few (like our Earth having several languages based on nationality). I can see that there might be a global "elvish" for all varieties of elf and drow, and maybe "dwarvish" to represent that they are an ancient and creative building race, and maybe demons and dragons could have some sort of ancient common, but most of the monsters ought to share a dark-common language of some sort. And alignment languages are silly unless they are like a simple code and not a "language" at all.

My problem is the sheer number of languages in the game and how hard it is to become fluant in multiple languages. Do you suppose that a typical orc can really speak several distinct languages? Or, to use the example in the OP, should a typical drow be able to speak ten languages? It only makes sense if there is a lot of overlap -- I can speak "English" so I suppose I also speak British and Australlian and Southern US. Otherwise, languages are simply absurd.

In my world, almost everyone speaks common. Then there are a few ancient texts in elvish or dwarvish or inscriptions on artifacts, but otherwise I ignore most facets of language.

Just my two coppers.

[RobJN]

IMC, I grouped goblinoid/humanoid languages: kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears all spoke a goblinnish, whereas orcs, ogres, and giant-kin had another common language.